DESIGNATED 

GIFTS 


THE  BUDGET  AND  THE 
APPORTIONMENT 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST 
FOREIGN  MISSION  SOCIETY 
BOSTON 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/designatedgiftsbOOamer 


DESIGNATED  GIFTS 

THE  BUDGET  AND  THE 
APPORTIONMENT 


“  Designated  Gifts”  is  a  term  used 
by  the  Foreign  Mission  Society  to 
include  all  contributions  for  the  work 
of  the  Society  whose  uses  are  “designated”  by 
the  donors.  Such  gifts  are  sometimes  called 
“Specifics,”  or  “Specific  Donations.”  There  are 
two  general  classes  of  designated  gifts: 

1.  Gifts  designated  for  work  scheduled  in  the 
annual  budget  of  the  Society. 

'2.  Gifts  designated  for  work  not  scheduled  in 
the  annual  budget  of  the  Society  —  for  items 
outside  or  in  excess  of  the  budget.  These  are 
technically  known  as  “Specific  Donations.” 

Class  1 :  Gifts  desig7iated  for  ivork  schedided  hi 
the  annual  budget  of  the  Society. 


The  Regular 
Budget  includes 
Salaries  of  Mis¬ 
sionaries  and 
Native  Evange¬ 
lists,  School 
Equipment,  etc. 


By  such  a  gift  it  is  possible  for  any 
individual,  church,  Sunday  school, 
young  people’s  society,  or  other 
organization  to  contribute  definitely 
to  the  payment,  either  in  whole  or 
in  part,  of  any  one  or  more  of  the 
3 


luiiidrcds  of  itcMiis  in  tlie  hudoel :  for  exanij)l(.‘, 
the  salary  of  a  nilssionarv,  Ids  outfit,  Ids  tcaielier, 
the  cost  of  re|)airing  his  lioiise,  ete. 

If  a  gift  of  this  eharaeter  is  eonteni])lat(‘d  it  is 
strongly  advised  that  it  he  made  under  what  is 
ealled  the  “Station  Plan.’’  This  plan  is  fully 
deserihed  in  a  small  leaflet  that  ean  he  had  on 
ap])lieation.  All  contrihutions  in  this  class  may 
he  counted  on  the  ehureh’s  ai)j)ortionment  since 
it  was  in  atitieipation  of  the  reeei])t  of  these  eon- 
trihutions  that  the  hudget  was  made  uj). 

Class  ‘'2;  (lifts  desigtiafed  for  irorh  not  scheduled 
in  the  annnni  budget  of  the  Societjf — for  items 
outside  or  in  excess  of  the  budget. 


In  regard  to  this  class  of  gifts 


There  are  press¬ 
ing  needs  for 
Large  Sums 
outside  the 
Regular  Budget 


it  will  he  noted : 

1.  That  they  cannot  api)ly  on  the 
ai)portionment  of  a  local  church  for 
the  reason  mentioned  above.  It  is 


obvious  that  only  those  gifts  which  can  he  ex¬ 
pended  for  objects  within  the  hudget  can  have 
relation  to  the  a])portionment. 


'i.  A  careful  study  of  the  regular  receijds  from 
the  churches  for  the  past  one  hundred  years  makes 
clear  the  fact  that  the  average  annual  increase 
from  this  source  is  so  small  that  if  this  were  the 
only  de})endence  the  })rogress  of  the  work  would 
he  very  slow. 

3.  Contrihutions  for  work  not  ])rovided  for  in 
the  hudget  are  very  greatly  needed.  There  are 


4 


iiijiny  import aivl  things  to  be  done:  additional 
work  to  be  undertaken;  l)uilding’s  to  be  ereeted; 
enterprises  to  be  established  or  reenforced,  that 
involve  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  of 
ex{)enditures  which  cannot  be  included  in  the 
budget.  For  these  objects  extra,  designated 
donations  in  sums  ranging  from  $100  to  $50,000 
are  solicited.  Practically  all  the  larger  mis- 
sionarv  societies  of  other  denominations  are 
compelled  to  depend  entirely  upon  this  class  of 
gifts  for  their  buildings,  and  a  comparison  of 
figures  shows  that  most  of  these  organizations 
are  expending  more  for  this  part  of  their  work 
than  we  are.  Lists  containing  needs  and  oppor¬ 
tunities  for  investment  that  have  been  formally 
approved  by  the  missionaries  and  by  the  Board 
are  available  upon  application. 

4.  This  form  of  gift  should  not  be  made  if 
it  means  a  lessened  gift  towards  the  appor¬ 
tionment.  That  would  be  taking  from  the  sup¬ 
port  of  that  which  is  recognized  as  an  absolutely 
essential  part  of  the  work  to  pay  for  something 
outside  the  budget  and  hence  of  less  importance. 
This  practise  is  not  business-like  or  safe.  It 
threatens  the  actual  support  of  the  missionaries 
and  the  work  already  being  done. 


BUDGET 

In  order  that  the  foregoing  may  be  made  very 
clear  a  brief  discussion  of  the  “budget”  and  the 
“apportionment”  is  added  here. 

.s 


What  is  a 
Budget? 


A  budget  is  a  term  common  in 
business  and  means  simi)ly  a  list  of 
proposed  ex})enditures  over  against 
a  si)ecified  i)robable  income.  A  budget  is  not 
an  api)ortionment  as  will  be  explained  later. 
The  budget  of  the  Foreign  Mission  Society  is 
made  out  annually  in  December.  It  contains 
more  than  a  thousand  items,  ddie  first  group  of 
these  items  consumes  thirty  ])er  cent,  of  the 
total  budget  and  covers  items  of  ])ersonal  supj)ort 
such  as  the  salaries  of  the  missionaries.  These 
are  matters  of  contract  and  are  estimated  ac¬ 
cording  to  fixed  rules.  A  reduction  of  the  amount 


FROM 

FROM 

to 

So 

zO 

FROM 

LEGACIES 

INCOME 

•3:9. 

INDIVIDUALS 

a  MATURED 

OF 

1. 1  e; 

(Oi/) 

OUTSIDE  APPORTIONM 

ANNUITIES 

$115,000. 

FUNDS 

$64,000. 

ZQ: 

OO 

crO 

U-tO 

$300,000. 

The  length  of  the  above  horizontal  line  represents  a  totiil 
prospective  income  for  the  year  lhl4-l!)l.)  of  and  pro¬ 

posed  expenditures  of  exactly  the  same  amount.  See  page  19. 


for  anv  of  them  could  not  be  made  without 

t 

violation  of  contract. 

The  ap})ropriations  for  the  work 

How  the  Society  tbe  missionaries  and  the  care  of 
liecides  What 

to  Spend  pro])erty  are  determined  as  follows: 

6 


1.  Each  missionary  on  the  field  fills  out  a 
specially  [)repared  blank  in  which  he  itemizes  his 
needs  for  the  next  fiscal  year. 

‘2,  This  blank,  filled  in,  is  forwarded  to  the 
Reference  Committee  of  his  mission  (for  example, 
Rnrina,  Assam,  etc.)  for  review,  alteration  and 
endorsement. 

3.  The  Reference  Committee  forwards  the 
estimates  of  all  the  missionaries  to  the  Rooms 
in  Boston  with  their  recommendation  on  each 
item  for  each  missionary. 

4.  To  the  items  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  is 

FROM 

CHURCHES, YOUNG  PEOPLES  SOCIETIES 
AND  SUNDAY  SCHOOLS 
"THE  APPORTIONMENT” 
$472,000. 


The  spaces  in  the  line  represent  graphically  the  relative 
proportion  of  the  amounts  received  from  the  five  general 
sources  indicated. 


added  the  amount  deemed  necessary  for  the 

t. 

development  and  maintenance  of  missionary 
interest  in  the  churches  at  home,  the  adminis¬ 
tration  of  the  work,  the  expense  of  the  homes  for 
missionaries’  children,  the  care  of  aged  and 
infirm  missionaries,  etc. 


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5.  A  c()iul)inati()ii  of  all  tliese  |)roi)()se(l  expen¬ 
ditures  oil  the  one  side  and  a  detailed  state¬ 
ment  of  the  prospective  income  on  the  other 
constitutes  the  budget  which  is  formally  approved 
by  the  Board  of  Managers. 

0.  This  budget  is  then  sent  to  the  Finance 
Committee  of  the  Northern  Ihiptist  (’onvention 
whose  members  scrutinize  it  carefully  and  invite 
representatives  of  the  Society  to  meet  with  them 
for  a  frank  discussion  of  its  ])rovisions. 

7.  After  any  necessary  revision  the  Finance 
Committee  incor})orates  this  budget  with  the 
budgets  of  the  other  societies,  similarly  prepared, 
into  a  joint  budget  for  presentation  to  the  Con¬ 
vention  at  the  annual  meeting. 

8.  The  Convention  approves  the  joint  budget 
and  by  that  action  authorizes  the  several  socie¬ 
ties  to  expend  the  full  amounts  mentioned  in 
their  budgets.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that 
in  no  year  since  the  organization  of  the  ('on- 
vention  did  the  Foreign  Mission  Society  expend 
the  full  amount  authorized  by  the  convention 
but  effected  a  considerable  saving  each  year, 
not  including  amounts  received  as  designated 
gifts. 

These  details  are  dwelt  upon  for  the  ])urj)Ose 
of  emphasizing  three  ])oints; 

1.  That  in  the  ])reparation  of  the  budget 
every  known  fact  is  taken  into  consideration, 

8 


the  result  representing  the  eoinbined  indgnient 
of  all  who  have  assisted  in  its  j)rodnction.  While 
it  is  made  np  in  a  modern,  business-like  manner, 
sympathy,  faith  and  courage  actuate  all  who  are 
related  to  it.  Obviously  it  is  not  always  possible 
to  grant  all  the  recpiests  of  the  missionaries.  The 
actual  needs  of  the  work  are  always  greater  than 
the  resources  at  the  command  of  the  Board. 
The  process  outlined  above,  however,  probably 
comes  as  near  to  securing  wise  and  ecpiitable 
distribution  of  the  funds  available  as  can  be 
devised. 

'2.  The  expenditure  side  of  the  budget  as 
finally  agreed  upon,  provides  for  a  total  outlay 
equal  to  the  probable  income  carefully  estimated. 
If  it  is  unwise  for  an  individual  to  expend,  or 
plan  to  expend,  in  a  given  year  more  than  he  is 
likely  to  receive  during  that  year,  it  is  even  more 
wrong  for  a  missionary  society  or  a  denomina¬ 
tion  to  do  so.  Faith  may  still  anticipate  increased 
offerings  but  Christian  prudence  will  not  exy^end 
them  until  they  are  in  the  treasury.  This  ])rin- 
ciple  does  not  limit  income  but  ])rovides  that 
expenditures  shall  not  exceed  a  given  sum  until 
a  larger  income  may  reasonably  be  expected. 

3.  The  first  obligation,  therefore,  of  each  church 
and  of  each  individual  donor  is  to  help  meet  the 
regular  budget  as  ap])roved  by  the  Convention. 
That  is  the  only  sure  way  to  prevent  debt  and 
possible  curtailment  of  the  work. 


9 


THE  APPORTIONMENT 


To  make  a  budget,  however  earet'ully,  is  one 
tiling’;  to  seeure  tlie  money  to  meet  it  is  (jiiite 
another  tiling.  The  sources  of  tlie  income  of 
the  Foreign  ^lission  Society  are  grajilheally 
illustrated  in  the  diagram  shown  on  jiages  (i 
and  7,  the  figures  used  being  those  for  tlu‘  fiscal 
year  1914-1915.  It  was  estimated  that  apjiroxi- 
matelv  tlie  amounts  named  would  be  received 

t 

from  the  sources  indicated.  On  that  basis  the 
expenditure  of  the  total  prospective  income  is 
planned,  the  budget  being  fixed  at  this  exact 
amount. 

From  the  above  it  is  perfectly  clear 
The  Apportion-  .  .  *  .  .1 

ment  represents  that  the  a])poitionment  is  not  the 

only  a  part  of  })udget,  but  the  fact  is  also  revealed 
the  Proposed  ,  ,  .  .  •  i  •  1 

Expenditures  that  the  ai)i)ortionnient  is  designed 

to  provide  only  a  relatively  small  proportion  of 

the  monev  needed  to  meet  the  budget.  In  no 

vear  since  the  organization  of  the  Xorthern 

Baptist  Convention  have  the  chnrches  met 

their  full  a])portionnient,  as  will  be  seen  from 

the  following  figures  taken  from  the  Society’s 

Annual  Reiiort  of  1919,  jiage  K). 


Years 

Anticipated  on 
.Apportionment 

Iteeeived  on 
Apportionment 

1908-09 

$042,000.00 

$350,819.93 

1909-10 

531,270.00 

357,549.35 

1910-11 

503.454.04 

373,818.33 

1911-P2 

522,384.92 

375,000.97 

1912-13 

513,807.22 

427,009.90 

1913-14 

402,110.05 

10 

381, 509. ()3 

It  sonu'tinu's  liap|)(Mis  lliat  receipts  from  otlier 
sourc’cs,  e.g.,  Ici’aeies,  exceed  the  ainoiint  esti¬ 
mated.  ddiis  surplus  has  more  than  oiiee  supplied 
the  detieieuey  in  the  amouut  received  from  the 
ehurehes  and  saved  the  Society  from  debt. 


IN  CONCLUSION 

Designated  gifts  have  always  constituted  more 
or  less  of  a  problem.  This  pamphlet  is  the  out¬ 
come  of  one  hundred  years  of  experience  of  this 
and  many  other  societies,  and  has  been  prepared 
with  a  view  to  help  those  who  desire  to  make 
such  gifts  toward  special  objects  either  within  or 
without  the  budget.  It  is  important  to  call  at¬ 
tention  to  the  fact  that  the  budget  of  a  million 
dollars  is  itself  just  as  concrete  as  any  one  of 
its  constituent  items,  e.g.,  the  support  of  a  native 
worker  or  the  cost  of  a  building.  An  ordinary 
contribution,  therefore,  undesignated,  accom¬ 
plishes  a  very  definite  purpose  in  helping  meet 
the  total  budget. 

Coo])eration  in  the  selection  of  the  objects  to 
which  gifts  may  be  designated  is  very  desirable. 
Correspondence  therefore  is  earnestly  solicited, 
if  possible  before  selections  are  made.  Letters 
addressed  to  any  one  of  the  District  Secretaries 
of  the  Society  or  to  the  Home  Secretary  in  Boston 
will  receive  prompt  attention.  From  these  also 
may  be  obtained  copies  of  the  pamphlets,  “Station 
Plan,”  the  lists  of  “Needs  and  Opportunities” 
and  other  literature  relating  to  this  subject  and 
to  the  work  in  general. 


It 


i  >R  additional  literature  or  other  in- 


formation  regarding  the  nvork  oj  the 
American  Baptiit  Foreign  Mission  Society, 
•ivrite  to  any  of  the  folton.vin^:  — 

I .  The  nearest  District  Secretary. 

J.  Department  of  Missionary  Edu¬ 
cation,  2J  East  26th  Street,  AV-ic  York 
City. 

j.  I.iterature  Department,  Box  41, 

Boston,  Mass. 


)07K-5M-1 1-6.14 


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